Lebron James and Kyrie Irving hug it out after hard fought game
By Kareem Gantt
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving show that there are no hard feelings between them. Maybe.
The evening started with Kyrie Irving getting booed by the fans he once dazzled, and it ended with him and his former teammate, LeBron James, hugging it out to put some hard feelings behind them.
To hear them tell it, there were never any hard feelings when Irving demanded a trade away from Cleveland, but we all knew differently. LeBron took some exception to Kyrie wanting out of his town. Suddenly, his city, once labeled the “Mistake by the Lake,” wasn’t good enough for Irving’s rising star?
Yea, anyone would have taken some exception to that.
But in the end, basketball is just a game. Friendships endure, through good times and bad times, and there isn’t any doubt that James and Irving developed a good friendship during their three-year reign of terror in the Eastern Conference.
Some may call that embrace a fake, just something to put on for the cameras. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but whether or not you think it was small-time NBA theater, it was still nice to see two friends embrace one another like the good old days.
Kyrie is going to have his success with the Boston Celtics. Whether he leads them to championship number 18 is another story for another time. LeBron is going to lead his Cleveland Cavaliers through the soft-as-Snuggles East once again (the horrific injury to Gordon Hayward likely ended the Celtics title hopes for this season), but friendship and brotherhood should be able to triumph above everything.
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One thing we know for sure, it’s going to be great watching Kyrie and LeBron go head-to-head with each other. Who knows? This may be the next great rivalry in today’s NBA. If so, then all of that brotherhood stuff will go flying out the window.